The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1887-10-06


plummet and string tied fast to 1t, And
they throw the plumnet this way and break
head there, and they throw plummet an
other way aud break a head there, and
then they throw it up, and it comes down
upon their own pate Foolsl Why will
you stand at the foot of the wall measur-
ing up when you ought to stand at
the top measuring downl A few days ago
was in the country, thirsty after
long walk, And l came in, and my
child was blowing soap bubbles, and
they rolled out of the cup blue, and gold,
and green, and sparkling, and beautiful, and
orbicular, and in so small u space never saw
more splendor concentrated. But she blew
once too often and all the glory vanished into
suds Then l turned and took glass of
plain water and was refreshed. And so far
as soul thirst is concerned, put against all
the glowing, glttering soap bubbles OF
worldly reform and human speculation ono
draught from the fountain from under the
throne Of God, clear as crystal Glory to
God for the religion that drops from above,
not coming up from beneathl And the Lord
said unto me, Amos, what SeeSt thouf ana l
said, A plumb line
i want you to notice this fact, that when
man gives up the straight up and down re-
ligion in the Bible fora new tangled relig-
ion, it is generally to suit his sins. You first
hear of his change of religion, and then you
hear of some swndle he has practced in Col
orado mining stock, telling some ono il he will
put in 5 0, 900 he can take out 500, 900, or he
has sacrificed his chastity, or plunged into ir-
remediabe worldness. His sins are so broao
he has to broaden his religion, and he becomes
as broad as temptation, as broad as the
souls darkness as broad as hell. They
want religion that will allow them to keep
their sins, and then at death say to them:
"Well done, good and faithful servant" and
tells them: "All is well, for there is no he'll
What a glorious heaven they hold before usl
Come, let us go in and see it, There is Herod
and all the babes he massacred. There is
Charles Guiteau, and Jim Fisk and Robes
pierre. the friend of the French guillotine,
and all the liars thieves, house burners, gar
rioters, pickpockets and libertines of all the
centuries. They have all got crowns, and
thrones, and harps, and scepters, and when
they chant they sing: Thanksgiving, and
honor, and glory, and power to the broad re-
ligion that let us all into heaven without re-
pentance and faith in those disgraceful dog
mas of ecclesiastical old fogyism."
My text gives me grand opportunity OF
saying a useful word to all young men who
are now forming habits for lifetime. OF
what use to a stonemason or a bricklayer IS a
plumb line2 Why not build the wall by the
unaded eye and hand' Because they are in
sufficient because if there be a detection in
the wall it cannot further on be corrected.
Because by the law of gravitation' a wall
must be straight in order to be symmetrical
and safe. A young man is in danger OF
getting defect in his wall of character that
may never be corrected. One of the best
friends ever had died of delirium tremens
at 60 years of age. though he had not since
81 years of age-before which he had been
disspated-touched Intoxicating liquor until
that particular carousal that took him Off.
Not feeling well in a street on hot summer
day he stepped into drug store, just as you
and / would have done, and asked for dose
of something to make him feel better And
there was alcohol in the dose, and
that one drop aroused the old appe-
tite, and he entered the first liquor store and
stayed there until thoroughly under the
power of rum. He entered his homea raving
maniac, his wife and daughters fleeing from
his presence, until he was taken to the city
hospital to die. The combustible material OF
early habit had lain quiet nearly forty years,
and that one spark ignited the conflagation.
Remember that the wall may be one hundred
feet high and yet detection one foot
from the foundation affects the entire struct-
ure. And if you live 100 years, and do right
the last eighty years, you may, nevertheless,
do something at twenty years OF age that Will
damage all your earthly existence. All you
who have built houses for yourselves or for
others, am l not right IN saying to these
young men, you cannot build wall so high
as to be independent of the character
of its foundations. man before thirty years
Of age may commit enough sin to last him o
lifetime A cat that has killed one pigeon
cannot be cured. Rnan It from killing thu
first pigeon Now, John, or George, or
Charles, or William, or Alexander, or An
drew, or Henry, or whatever be your Chris
tan name or surname, say here and now:
mo wild oats for me, no cigars or cigarettes
for me, no wine or beer for me, no nasty
stories for me. no Sunday sprees for me.
am going to start right and keep on right.
God help me- for am very weak. From the
throne of eternal righteousness let down to
me the principles by which | can he guided
in building everything from foundation to
capstone Lord God, by the wounded hand
of Christ, throw me plumb line!'
Lord Nelson's general direction when going
into naval battle was, no man can do wrong
that places his ship close alongside that oil
the enemy. My friend, you will never dc
wrong if you keep your life close alongside the
Ten Commandments. Do right, and you can
be as brave as Maria Theresa, who rode UP
the Hill of Defiance and shook her sword at
the four corners of the earth.
"But," you say, 'you shut us young folks
out from all fun" Oh, no! like fun. be.
lieve in fun. l have had lots of it in my
time. But have not had to go into paths OF
sin to find it. No credit to me, but becausi
| Ol All C|Nauitie
and influence l was kept from outward
| trangressions. though my heart was bad
| enough and desperately wicked. have had
| fun ilimi table, though | never swore one
| oath, and never gambled for so much as the
value of pin, and never saw the inside of a
haunt of sin save as when, ten years ago
with cosan, sSoner of police and detective
and two elders of my church, lexplored these
| cities by midnight, not out of curiosity, but
that might in pulpit discourse set before
the people the poverty and the horrors Of I'M
| derground city life Yet though | never was
intoxicated for an instant, and never com.
mtted one act Of dissoluteness, restrained
only by the grace of God, without which re.
straint l would have gone headlong to the
that | don't believe there is mar
on the planet in the present time
who has had more. Hear it, men and
boys, women and girls, all the fnn is on the
side of right. Sin may seem attractive, but
it is beautiful, and like the manchineel, tret
whose dews are poisonous. The only genuine
happiness is in an honest Christian life. The
Chippewa, wanting to see God, backens ms
| face with charcoal and fasts till he has 8
vision of what he calls God. My God car
see best when take my hat off and let thu
sunshine blaze in my face, and after a rea
sonable breakfast. He is not God of black
ness and, starvation, but of light and plenti
tude, and the glory of the MONDAY sun j
Egyptian midnight compared to it. Their
they go-two brothers. The one was convert
ed year ago in church, one Sunday morning
during prayer, or sermon, or hymn. Noon
knew it at the time. The persons on eithe
side of him suspected nothing, but in tina
young mans soul this process went on
HLord, here I am, a young man amid tn
temptations of city life, and am afraid t.
risk them alone; come and be my pardon AM
my help; save me from making the mistak
that some of my comrades are making, am
save ME now And quicker than flash Co
rolled heaven into his soul. He is just a
jolly as he used to bel just as brilliant as b
used to be. He can strike ball or catch on
as easily as before he was converted. Wit
gun or fishing rod in this summer vacation
he was Just as skillful as before. The worl
is brighter to him than ever. He appre
ciates pictures, music, innocent hilarity, SC
cal life, good jokes, and has plenty of fur
first-clasS fun, glorious fun. But his brothe
is going down hill In the morning his hea
aches from the champagne debauch. Every
body sees he is in rapid descent. What care
he for right, or decency, or the honor of h